Resources for Beginner Filmmakers

If you're into DSLR filmmaking, there's no doubt you've heard of these filmmakers. If you're new to the scene, I wanted to collect a quick list of some of the best resources and people to follow. These guys will teach you quite a bit, and the best part is they all will take the time to interact with you online and on Twitter. I've learned about as much as I did in my four years of school as I have in the last year following these great talents.

Vincent Laforet - Director, Photographer, Director of Photography and more

Laforet shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography as a member of The New York Times staff's coverage of "the pain and the perseverance of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan." In 2006, Laforet became the Times' s first national contract photographer. He has been sent on assignment by Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life.

And that's just talking about his photography. He has recently been busy shooting commercials and spending a lot of time sharing his HDDSLR work and experiences.

Starting with Reverie, the first 1080P footage from the Canon 5DMKII, Vincent has been breaking ground in many areas. One of his next stunning pieces was Nocturne, showing the unbelievable low-light capabilities of Canon's 1DMKIV.

If that wasn't enough, he was asked by Canon to kick off The Story Beyond the Still contest with Vimeo. It was a collaborative film effort, with the final product being premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This was the moment that truly inspired me and led to me shooting video with a DSLR. I entered the contest twice, with my first short film Max, and a later entry, Switch.

If that wasn't enough, Vincent is active on Twitter and will actually reply to you many times you send him a tweet. How cool is that?

about: Shane is serious business, and it's important for DSLR filmmaking to have someone with his credibility fully on board. He shares some great insight on his blog, and I recommend taking a moment to check out some of his DSLR work, such as "The Last 3 Minutes" Directed by Po Chan.

about: Ryan has one of the best blogs on filmmaking. He's an award-winning blogger and filmmaker, and his free DSLR Cinematography Guide is a resource that can't be beat. Follow this guy now so you can say you knew him before he was a big deal.

about: From Vienna, Austria, Nino is an experienced filmmaker with a lot of work in documentaries and commercial work. He is currently running a great series of blogs on "How to Reach 1 Million Video Views" - Part 1 - Part 2

His short "February" is some of the first footage we saw from the Canon Rebel T2i/550D and was a big influence on me early on in my HDDSLR video shooting.

about: Through his videos and blog posts, Caleb has probably taught me more about gear than anyone or anything. He really cares about connecting with others who are interested in shooting video with a DSLR and it shows in his work. I can't say enough good things about Caleb, and I'm going to leave it at that, if you aren't already off checking out his great reviews and blogs.